My mother died in 2007. For more than 10 years after her death, I was unable to make it through Mother’s Day without getting angry. “F*** you!” I yelled at my computer when emails showed up offering Mother’s Day specials for brunches I would never get to eat with her. “I can’t ‘make her day... Continue Reading →
My life in 28 pounds
I traffic in words, and yet words sometimes seem wholly inadequate to convey an experience. Yet I owe it to myself to try. I recently returned from my third journey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I made the trek in 2008 and again in 2012. This time was different. This time, no mules carried my supplies. Instead, I carried a backpack containing 28 pounds of everything I would need for four days and three nights. This time, no Phantom Ranch cabin awaited at the bottom. This time, I journeyed into a more remote part of the Canyon. This time, I had a guide.
Get ye some accountability!
ac·count·a·bil·i·ty: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions Over the past five (!) months, since I have been staying home more than going out, I have developed a new appreciation for a sometimes-overlooked writing tool: accountability. The first step in achieving any goal is articulating it to yourself. The... Continue Reading →
Day jobs that complement a writing career
I have two completely different personas. Those who know one side of me often have no idea of the existence of the other---something I have been working to change through confessionals like this. One persona is that of the fiction writer. The other accompanies my "day job." I put that in quotation marks since it's... Continue Reading →